A DEAL to end the series of wildcat strikes by postal workers was agreed today, paving the way for the backlog of mail to be cleared.

The breakthrough came in the middle of the night following talks between the Royal Mail and leaders of the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

Merseyside was drawn into a spate of unofficial strikes when postal staff at the Warrington regional distribution centre walked out last Thursday after they were asked to handle mail diverted from another strike-bound depot.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: "There is a backlog of mail and we estimate it will take about three days to get back to normal." She said domestic customers in Merseyside should not experience any delays, unless they are expecting mail from London.

Hopes of a deal had faded last night, but then Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton and CWU General Secretary and former Liverpool postman Billy Hayes joined the talks.

Both sides emerged from a central London hotel just before 3.30am today and said in a joint statement: "The Royal Mail and the CWU are both pleased to have reached an understanding.

"We will be talking to our people today and will now go to Acas to resolve all outstanding issues.

"We wish to apologise to customers for the huge inconvenience that has been caused."

Millions of letters have been held up by a series of wildcat strikes which started two weeks ago in west London.

More than 20,000 postal workers were taking unofficial action.

The dispute started after a number of drivers in Southall, west London, were suspended following a row in the aftermath of an official 24-hour strike.

The union accused the Royal Mail of bullying and intimidating workers and of trying to force through changes to working practices.

The Royal Mail denied the charge, blaming union activists for the dispute.

About 13,500 post boxes in London were sealed over the weekend because of the mounting backlog of undelivered mail.

Neither side would give any details of the agreement.

Postmen and women who have taken unofficial action were urged to return to work immediately.